I GLOW, Do You?

In Peace Corps, I work with many different institutions in my village: the Red Cross, Hospital, schools, Mothers for All. However, my favorite part of my Peace Corps service is working with the youth in the schools. Specifically, I love doing GLOW camps.

Giants, Wizards, Trolls ice breaker

GLOW (Girls and Guys Leading Our World) camps were founded in the 1990’s by Peace Corps Volunteers in Romania. GLOW camps cover a variety of different topics in the hope that the information students learn will give them the necessary resources to overcome obstacles they might face, and give them the skills to achieve their goals.

Sex or Gender exercise

Since becoming a PCV, I have helped lead six of GLOW camps. Working with an amazing crew of four other PCVs in my intake group, we applied for a grant through Peace Corps, and received almost $10,000 to carry out a series of camps in our district. For the camps, we created a unique curriculum that we would follow on the topics of life skills, gender based violence, HIV, leadership, peer pressure and self-esteem. Our goal was to make each session at the camps interactive and engaging way possible, so the students would have fun, and not feel like they were in the classroom. For example we did activities such as “Our Bodies” charades, HIV jeopardy and HIV Limbo.

Condom Balloon game demonstration by Anne Conte (facilitator, PCV)

The first camp in our series turned out great, and was a good model for how to run a camp, however, it was lead primarily by veteran PCVs. The second camp in our series was the first camp we (the new PCVs) carried out and facilitated without the help of experienced PCVs.

We encountered two major challenges during the second camp. The primary challenge was the language barrier. While all youth in Botswana speak English in school, the level of English fluency varies greatly across the nation. The first camp was held in one of the largest villages in Botswana. Therefore, the student’s grasp of English was quiet high. The second camp took place with the students from my village, Sefhare, which is a small, rural village. Thus, the English comprehension level was considerably higher in the first camp than the second. Some of the activities we had planned for the GLOW camp required active discussion, and without the proper understanding of English, or confidence in their English speaking abilities, some youth from my school that attended the camp were unable to participate.

Gender based violence tree

A second challenge we encountered was creating a comfortable and conducive environment for the youth. Because it took much longer to get the students to the camp than anticipated, the introductory sessions (the group icebreaker sessions, the sessions that introduced the camp, and the session that established ground rules) were rushed. We found that because of this, the youth had trouble connecting with other students and facilitators, and therefore did not actively participate in discussions.

While the students learned a lot and had a great time, I was disappointed that the second camp encountered so many challenges. However, in hindsight, the camp was a wonderful learning opportunity. It gave us a lot experience and ideas on how to improve the curriculum and work with the youth for the future camps. After the second camp, we almost entirely gutted the curriculum and re-designed it (while keeping the same topics), so that it was much more user-friendly and was accessible to youth with varying different levels of English comprehension. We made sure that at least two hours were blocked for introductions, ice-breakers, and ground rules so that the tone of the camp was set early. We also created teams of students at the beginning of the camp. Each team had five people, and they had to come up with a team name, sound and motion. When the curriculum required students to work in groups during sessions, groups were already established, and students were comfortable working with the people in their group. Thus, discussion and group participation increased. This also encouraged a greater sense of camaraderie.

Sex or gender exercise

Since the camp with my students, both students and teacher have asked me if there is going to be another camp. The impression that the camp left on them is strong. And, I hope the lessons that they learned during it stays with them throughout their lives.